Does income inequality influence subjective wellbeing? evidence from 21 developing countries
Reyes-García, Victoria (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Angelsen, Arild (Norges miljø- og biovitenskapelige universitet)
Shively, Gerald E. (Purdue Policy Research Institute)
Minkin, Dmitrij (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)

Date:	2019
Abstract:	Does income inequality matter for subjective wellbeing? Using data from 5945 individuals residing in 182 villages in rural areas of 21 developing countries, we test the relative importance of income inequality measured at different levels (country and village) in subjective wellbeing. Country-level inequality might increase subjective wellbeing because it signals potential upward mobility, whereas village-level inequality might exacerbate negative effects of local peer-group comparisons on subjective wellbeing. The two measures of income inequality are not correlated, supporting the intuition that these variables might capture different aspects of income inequality. Although we observe broad patterns that suggest inequality measured at different levels might have associations with subjective wellbeing, and with potentially differing signs, the low magnitude of these associations and their weak statistical significance do not provide enough evidence to support the argument that the level at which income inequality is measured explains overall patterns of subjective wellbeing. Our results therefore leave open for future research the question of what underlying forces might account for these observed patterns.
Grants:	Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad MDM-2015-0552
Note:	Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu MdM-2015-0552
Rights:	Tots els drets reservats.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió acceptada per publicar
Subject:	Happiness ; Inequalities ; Life satisfaction ; Poverty and environment network (PEN) ; Quality of life
Published in:	Journal of happiness studies, Vol. 20, Issue 4 (April 2019) , p. 1197-1215, ISSN 1389-4978

DOI: 10.1007/s10902-018-9992-0

Postprint 37 p, 571.9 KB

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